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Messianic Prophecies

Isaiah 59:20

This passage comes from the wider catalog — a broader, more lightly curated list than the core set. Both readings are shown as peers; GEBible takes no side.

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Isaiah 59:20

“A Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from disobedience in Jacob,” says Yahweh.

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Yes, truth is lacking; and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Yahweh saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice.

He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor. Therefore his own arm brought salvation to him; and his righteousness sustained him.

He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head. He put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a mantle.

According to their deeds, he will repay as appropriate, wrath to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies; he will repay the islands their due.

So they will fear Yahweh’s name from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun; for he will come as a rushing stream, which Yahweh’s breath drives.

“A Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from disobedience in Jacob,” says Yahweh.

“As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says Yahweh. “My Spirit who is on you, and my words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart out of your mouth, nor out of the mouth of your offspring, nor out of the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says Yahweh, “from now on and forever.”

The fulfillment reading

How this passage is read as pointing to the Messiah.

The fulfillment reading takes Isaiah 59:20 — where God comes to Zion as redeemer for the repentant within Jacob — as anticipating Christ's coming to redeem, connected here to Luke 2:38 and Anna's reference to the redemption of Jerusalem. Because Paul applies the same verse to Christ in Romans 11:26, proponents see apostolic warrant for identifying the promised Zion-redeemer with Jesus. They hold that God's personal coming to Zion is accomplished through the incarnation, so Jesus' presence in the Temple realizes the promise. Anna's recognition is read as Spirit-guided insight that the promised redeemer had arrived.

The counter-reading

How this passage is read within its own context.

The critical reading holds that the subject of Isaiah 59:20 is God himself arriving in person at Zion to redeem the repentant, part of a broader Isaianic motif of God coming to Jerusalem. On this view, applying the verse to Jesus requires identifying him with God's personal presence, which is a theological claim rather than the verse's stated content. Critics also observe that the listed New Testament reference, Luke 2:38, only echoes the theme of Jerusalem's redemption and does not quote the verse; the formal citation occurs in Romans 11:26, where the direction of movement is reversed. They note the Masoretic text has the redeemer coming to Zion while Paul's wording has the deliverer coming from Zion, and neither matches the Septuagint's 'for the sake of Zion,' underscoring a text-critical gap in the correspondence.

How the New Testament uses this passage

Each entry names how the New Testament author draws on the passage — a direct quotation, an allusion, an echo, or a typological reading. An echo or an allusion is not the same as a prediction; the label says which is which.

  • Luke 2:38 Echo

    Luke 2:38 (the listed ref) only echoes the theme of Jerusalem's redemption without quoting Isa 59:20; the actual direct quotation of the verse is in Romans 11:26, not the fulfillmentRef.